Jared Swilley, bassist/vocalist of the best band ever, Black Lips, turns 27 years old today. As a honorary KLYAMer, we wish Jared the best on this day.
All posts by G. Gordon Gritty
Quote of the Day
Freddie Gibbs:
“I have homies that got it [medical marijuana card]. I just smoke their weed. I don’t really like that shit [dispensaries]. It puts the neighborhood weed man out of business. The neighborhood weed man got to have a presence. He’s like the paper boy and this is fucking shit up. I don’t want them niggas to legalize weed, I want them to decriminalize weed.
Online Press – Black Lips Rocks Off Cruise 8/2
Here are some articles and things that I’ve found relating to this wonderful event:
My (Paul’s) Photos: LINK
Video of “Short Fuse”: LINK – Displays the craziness that was the crowd: crowd surfers, bumping into band members, useless “stage” guard, etc, etc. Also, you can hear the bass and guitar get cut out to the point where it’s basically Joe drumming and singing for a minute or so.
Metromix Photos: LINK – 109 photos that do a great job at capturing the actual show and the personalities on the boat.
CMJ: LINK – Great recap of the show. It does allege that the Lips played “Veni Vidi Vici,” but I could almost swear they didn’t.
If you have any pics or write-ups or videos or anything relating to this event, then comment away!
CD Review: Lisbon [2010]
Band: The Walkmen
Release: 9/2010
Label: Fat Possum
1. “Juveniles” – A-
2. “Angela’s Surf City” – A+
3. “Follow The Leader” – B
4. “Blue As Your Blood” – B+
5. “Stranded” – A-
6. “Victory” – A
7. “All My Great Designs” – A-
8. “Woe Is Me” – A
9. “Torch Song” – A–
10. “While I Shovel the Snow” – B+
11. “Lisbon” – B+
Comments: Probably the most anticipated album of the year for me besides maybe No Age’s new one. I’m telling you The Walkmen are somewhere safely in my top five favorite bands. “Juveniles” is not really as amazing as it was on the first few listens (KLYAM’s Premature Evaluation, if you will), though I must say it’s definitely a fringe A so I gave it an A-. Not a favorite of the year, but memorable and catchy as freak. The surf-y pre-chorus and actual chorus are stunning animals. As some have commented, The Walkmen seem to really do the opening song thing well. “Donde Esta,” “Louisiana,” “What’s In It For Me?” great stuff. “Angela’s Surf City” is probably an A-, but I gave it an A because the explosion of drums and instrumentation in general PLUS high volumes make this their newish answer to “Tenleytown” MINUS the ’80s DC hardcore influence. Got that? “Follow The Leader” sounds like a song that should be :20 long. Now, no song should actually be that short ideally, so I actually take it back. I strangely like how this song is included. I was really convinced it was unnecessary. “Blue As Your Blood” is nice, but is the first real song on here that has only certain parts that are great. The orchestral “Stranded” is really outstanding. At first I was like “oh yeah this is just really good…nothing major,” but now I’m thinking it’s top tier on this record. “Victory” gets nice at the end. After the first set of light vocals in “All My Great” that song becomes high quality. It really does. That little segue into my favorite song on here “Woe Is Me” works out so nicely. Like I’ve said before, I love the surf of “Woe Is Me” and its flow. Immaculate flow. I’m thinking “Torch Song” is top tier material as well. It’s got those light vocals as well as a soft little melody that’s just perfection toward the end. “While I Shovel” is along the same lines, but its slow waltz attribute doesn’t do much in the department of awesomeness. “Lisbon” is quite the album closer. While this isn’t my favorite Walkmen album (that probably belongs to Bows + Arrows), it’s definitely in a class of its own. Gone are the days of straight-up rockers along the lines of “The Rat” and “Thinking Of A Dream”…in is this new sound that was captured on You & Me and taken to a new level on Lisbon. I do much prefer the rock and roll, but this is what it is.
Grade: A- (90)
Gore Listens To Sultanic Verses!!!
No Age Album Cover: “Everything in Between”
Out: September 28!
Concert Review: Black Lips, Natural Child, K-Holes [Live On A Boat In NYC] (8/2/10)
Date: Tuesday, August 2, 2010
Bands: K-Holes, Natural Child, Black Lips
Venue: The Temptress
Act One – K-Holes – The cock-sucking K-Holes! The band of former Black Lips guitarist Jack Hines and four other people including a trumpet player AND a drummer who keeps it simple: a bass drum, a floor tom, and a cymbal. K-Holes were very explosive and offered a big sound. Matter of fact, a certain cross-dresser in a certain red dress enjoyed it so much that he/she was crawling on the floor, laying out on a table, and having a rhythmic seizure during the duration of K-Holes set. Fun times! Also, some whippersnapper (not a part of the band) felt like screaming into the microphone at random times during the set. It was all in good fun, but who does that?!
Act Two – Natural Child – The favorite band of Rachel aka Pop Jew was a great band, indeed! Wait a sec: Bawitdaba da bang a dang diggy diggy diggy said the boogy said up jump the
boogy. Okay, that out of the while. These guys had a song about people not understanding you, white people, and punks, a song dedicated to the Captain of the ship, and if I remember correctly, a song about fucking. All in the spirit of Kid Rock. They punk-rocked. The guitarist crowd surfed his way to the second floor to end their set. The bassist was having a great time and the drummer was doing his job in the background. I definitely will keep checking these guys out.
Act Three – BLACK LIPS – Black Lips pretty much keep topping their previous best show ever. At this pace, all my favorite shows will be Black Lips shows, but I mean they are my favorite band after all. In terms of crowd participation, this show set the bar. The moshing got to the point where the one security guard all but gave up after five minutes of trying to protect Jared from the stampede at the front of the stage. The guitars got unplugged at various points during the set (probably from people falling down)…Jared had to move back and actually face away from the crowd (never saw this done before), although all seemed to be well with the other three members of the band! People were singing along loudly during every single song and there was just the whole vibe of Black Lips in Tijuana except in New York and on a boat. The set may have been trimmed a bit due to the chaos on stage or because time was up, but the roughly one hour the band played was just amazing! Funny things of note: some kid yelling out requests of old rarely (maybe never) played live cuts “Hope Jazz” and “Time of the Scab” and some big jock hollering “OOOOOOOUUUUUU WEEEEEEEE!!!” after every song.
Set-List:
1. Sea of Blasphemy
2. Drugs
3. Make It
4. Short Fuse
5. O Katrina
6. Stranger
7. Not A Problem
8. Ain’t No Deal
9. Dirty Hands
10. Cold Hands
11. Ghetto Cross
12. (A song resembling “I Want Candy”)
13. Too Much In Love
14. Bad Kids
Grade: A+ – Best show I’ve seen!
Bruise Cruise!!! Ft. Black Lips, Strange Boys
Cruises are the latest fad in Rock and Roll, it seems. And why not? They are great! Well, how about this:
Bruise Cruise Festival is an exclusive music festival on the high seas. It brings together today’s most prominent and influential rock bands on a three-day tropical vacation from Miami to the Bahamas.
The cruise offers true music fans a chance to witness their favorite bands in a unique, intimate rock festival atmosphere while being whisked away on an exotic vacation. A special escape from the winter doldrums. This dream getaway will reward guests with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to experience a string of exclusive concerts against the backdrop of a completely inclusive, relaxing getaway.
The first Bruise Cruise will feature a who’s-who of the North American rock scene: The Black Lips, Vivian Girls, Strange Boys, Thee Oh Sees, Ty Segall, Quintron and Miss Pussycat, Turbo Fruits and – last but not least – one of New York’s most prominent soul DJs, Mr. Jonathan Toubin. The cruise will include a kick-off party in Miami, multiple concerts at sea and Nassau in the Bahamas, open-bar cocktail parties and a soul dance-off with cash prizes.
Amenities featured on board include: gambling, resort-style pools, water parks, spas, fine dining and more. The price of one ticket will cover all entertainment, lodging, meals and some drinks. In order to create a highly coveted experience, only 400 guests will be able to attend the first Bruise Cruise.
Not A Nobunny Song – “Bunny Hug”
This song mysteriously appeared on YouTube a few days ago. For a Nobunny song, it’s an incredibly high quality production. It sounds like a parody of some ’70s pop tune, but I can’t quite get a grip on what song it may be ripping off.
Band Rec: Natural Child
Really catchy garage rock band from Nashville. They open for Black Lips tomorrow.
Kids Like You & Me (KLYAM) 